Therapist Feelings of Incompetence and Suboptimal Processes in Psychotherapy

This study focused on novice therapists’ feelings of incompetence (FOI). FOI are moments where therapists’ beliefs in their abilities, judgment, and/or effectiveness is diminished, reduced, or challenged internally. In order to get at the subtleties of this internal and subjective process, ten novic...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of contemporary psychotherapy Vol. 40; no. 4; pp. 233 - 243
Main Authors Thériault, Anne, Gazzola, Nicola
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Boston Springer US 01.12.2010
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Clinical Psychology
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Original Paper
Perceptions
Performance anxiety
Personality and Social Psychology
Psychiatry
Psychotherapy
Public Health
Therapists
Therapist self-doubt
Professional issues
Feelings of Incompetence
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:This study focused on novice therapists’ feelings of incompetence (FOI). FOI are moments where therapists’ beliefs in their abilities, judgment, and/or effectiveness is diminished, reduced, or challenged internally. In order to get at the subtleties of this internal and subjective process, ten novice therapists were interviewed for approximately 90 min using a semi-structured interview protocol. The interviews were analyzed by two researchers using procedures adapted from grounded theory methodology with the aim of developing thick descriptions and a conceptual structure. Findings indicate that novice therapists struggle with FOI, which vary in nature and intensity, and that FOI are multiply determined and complex. Implications for supervision and for psychotherapy process are discussed.
ISSN:0022-0116
1573-3564
DOI:10.1007/s10879-010-9147-z